Trolley-track.



E. J, G. PHILUPS.

TROLLEY TRACK.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. H. 1916.

1,267,802. Patented May 28,1918.

'FFI

ELLIS J. G. PHILLIPS, 0F :AURORA, ILLINOIS, AS-SIGNOR TO RICHARDS-WILCOX MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

TROLLEY-TBACK.

Application filed February 11 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELLIs J. G. PHILLIPS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Tracks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in trolley-tracks that are intended more particularly for use in connection with doorhangers for sliding doors located in positions exposed to the weather. IVith such tracks so located it is common to provide a metal guard or shield over the track to pro tect it and the wheeled carriage that runs thereon and from which the door is suspended, such guard or shield being secured adjacent to its upper edge to the supporting wall that the track is also secured to. WVhen such guard or shield is also employed as a means for aiding in the support of the wheeled carriage and the door carried thereby, either by having a track-rail riveted to its inner face or being turned to form such rail, the weight imposed upon it by the suspended door tends to bend the guard or shield, with the result, of course, of slightly deflecting the track-rail carried by or formed with it out of the horizontal plane of the opposite track-rail. It is the object of my invention to provide a construction of trolley-track of the character specified wherein the guard or shield will be prevented from being deflected in the manner stated and wherein the strengthening means employed for this purpose will also look the ends of adjacent track sections together so as to maintain perfect alinement of the sections and at the same time efiectually cover the joint between the sections so as to bar the admission of rain and snow. Further objects of this invention are to provide a sheet metal trolley track which is simple in construction, which is sufficiently strong to sustain the weight placed upon it, and which may be manufactured at a relatively low cost. I accomplish these objects by the construction shown in the drawing and hereinafter specifically described.

That which I believe to be new will be set forth in the claims.

In the drawings,

Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, front Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28, 1918.

Serial No. 77,612.

and rear elevations of portions of two sections of trolley-track embodying my invention;

Fig. 3 is an end view of that section of the track to which the joint-covering strips are attached,the track being shown in position against a supporting wall, and a wheeled carriage and a portion of a door suspended therefrom being indicated in dotted lines;

Fig. 4 is an end View of the other track section, which is adapted to aline and to be interlocked with the section shown in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is an inner face view of the end portion of the guard or shield member of that section that has secured to it the outer jointcovering strip.

Referring to the several figures of the drawings, in which corresponding parts are indicated by like reference characters,

A and B indicate two sections of track adapted to be secured to a building wall or other support and arranged closely together and in alinement, of course, to form a con tinuous track. In the construction shown, each section Av and 13 comprises a vertical rear member which at its upper portion is turned to form a flange 7 and at its lower portion is turned to form a track-rail 8 from whch the metal is bent back to form a short diagonal extension 9. So bending the material to form these parts 8 and 9 produces between them a deep angular notch that opens toward the rear of the track. Each of the track sections also comprises a guard or shield member, such guard or shield being formed from a single piece of sheet-metal bent to have a short vertical portion 10, a top portion 11 that is slightly inclined in order to shed water that may fall upon it, a vertical front wall 12, a rearwardly or inwardly turned portion that forms a track-rail 13 that is in the same horizontal plane as the other track-rail 8, and a downwardly and outwardly inclined portion 14: that acts as a deflector of moisture for the upper part of the door. This deflector 14 is bent in such relation to the track-rail as to produce between these parts a deep angular notch that opens toward the front of the structure, and corresponding, as shown, to the angular notch formed by the parts 8 and 9 of the other member of the traction section. The two members of yes each track section are to be suitably connected togcther,in the construction illustrated the connecting means being rivets 15 that pass through the portions 7 and ll. When so united it will be seen that the vertical wall portions 6 and 10 of the two members are in substantial alinement, except that the upper ed c of the portion 10 is bent baclr in order that it may make a closer joint with the wall to which the track as a whole is secured. (See Fig. 3.)

16 indicates a strong metal s rip securely atlixed, by spot welding or otherwise, to the rear taco of one of the track sections (section A as here illustrated), and 1'? indicates another strip similarly attired to the front face of the same section, the strip 1? conforming substantially, as best shown in Fig. 3, to the shape oi": the guard or shield memher. The rear strip 16 also conforms to the shape ot the member to which it is atiined to the extent of being bent in aid and then outward at its lower end so as to bear against the track-rail S and portion 9. .thS clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, these metal strips 16 and 17' are so attached at the end or" the section it as to project for some little distanceabout one-third of their width as illustratcd-beyond the end of such section.

To form a track comprising two of the sections A and B, the section B will have its end inserted between the projecting portions of the two strips 16 and 1'4", and as such strips conform very closely to the outline of the track section, the inserted section will be held in almost exact alinement with the other section. inasmuch as there is always a certain amount of springiness in these sheetmetal structures, it will be found that the engagement of the two sections will be a very firm one owing to the secure grip that the projecting portions of the strips take where they enter the angular notches formed by the parts 8 9 and 131'-i-, respectively. In addition to affording the means whereby this very firm interlocking ot the two sections can be had, the outer strip 1? etlcctually covers the joint between the two sections to prevent the admission of rain or snow, and aids very materially in maintaining the guard or shield members of the two sections against distortion when subjected to the heavy downward strain incident to the sustaining of a heavy door. The other strip, 16, in addition to the function of aiding in looking the two sections A and together, serves as a spacing device to hold the rear a as" anemone wall 6 the required distance from the support to which the track as a whole is secured by bolts or screws passed through the holes 19, it being necessary to hold it a short dis tance away from such support in order to keep the track rails horizontaldue to the turning back of the upper edge of the part- 10 as heretofore explained. @ther spacing means, such as pressed-out portions 18, are to be employed, as may be necessary, but the strip 16 will be sufficient for this purpose at the abutting ends of the two track sections.

That which l claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

1. 1h sheet metal trolley track comprising, in combination, a rear member bent along its lower edge to form a horizontally disposed track rail and having at its upper edge an angularly disposed supporting flange, a front member supported by said flange and ha *ing at its lower edge an inwardly bent section to form a track rail, and an outwardly and downwardly inclined deflector depending from said track rail.

2. A sheet metal trolley track comprisin in combination, a rear member bent at its lower edge to form a track rail and having at its upper edge an angularly disposed supporting flange, a front member supported by said flange and having an upwardly extending securing web at its upper edge, the lower edge of said front member being inwardly bent to form a track rail complementary to the first mentioned track rail, and an integral deflector inclined outwardly and downwardly from said last mentioned track rail.

8. A sheet-metal trolley-track, comprising, in combination, a vertical rear member bent adjacent to its lower margin to form a tracl:rail and again bent to provide a notch below such track-rail and bent adj acent to its upper margin to form a supporting flange", a second member bent to form a top piece for attachment to said supporting flange, a front wall spaced from and parallel to the said. vertical rear wall, a track-rail opposite the first-mentioned track-rail and an outwardly-inclined deflector integral with the track-rail whereby a notch is formed be tween such traclnrail and deflector; and metal strengthening strips secured to the outer faces of the section near its end and bent to enter the said notches, said strips projecting beyond the end of the section to overlap and engage the end of another similarly-shaped section.

ELLlS rl. PHlLLlPS.

by addressing the Commissioner 

